Tag Archives: David Wilson

It’s getting too late in the season to be reading this unless you’ve already got a playoff spot. I hope you do. But if you’re reading this with no hope of making it to the big dance, I commend you.

So what if your team imploded early in the season? You made a commitment to play 13 weeks, and I respect that. The best thing you can do when your team disappoints you early in the year is to keep making moves and improving your roster. Maybe those wins don’t matter down the stretch, but there’s nothing like knocking someone out of the playoffs when you have no shot of getting there yourself.

The best leagues have teams that remain competitive every year.

Not to mention, you’re only going to get better if you practice, practice, practice at making moves and building a team that can compete. By playing out your full string of games, you’ll figure out what you did wrong.

So what did we do wrong last week?

Week 13 Pickups

Knowshon Moreno was the surprise starter and workhorse back for the Broncos Sunday. While Ronnie Hillman is the explosive rookie, we all must have forgotten John Fox loves his vets.

Moreno does a better job of protecting the Broncos’ biggest asset on offense, Peyton Manning, so he’ll be getting most of the work in Willis McGahee‘s stead. Readjust your waiver claims and go all-in for Moreno. He’s no RB1, but decent yardage and the occasional score is totally on the radar. He’s a RB2 in the right matchups (and assuming Hillman doesn’t get anything more than a few touches per game moving forward).

Bryce Brown hit the fantasy football world in the mouth Monday night with a two-touchdown performance against the Panthers.

While he’s only the Eagles’ starter until LeSean McCoy returns, it sounds like McCoy could be out for an extended period of time. He still hasn’t passed Phase 1 of the concussion tests, which places him behind Michael Vick in terms of who’ll return to the field first.

In his place, Brown showed us he’s got RB1 ability, and he might even keep some of that workload if/when McCoy comes back. Go all in with any leftover FAAB you got stashed if you need a temporary RB2 with RB1 upside.

Since Andre Brown is out of the year, David Wilson should be back on your radar. He’ll be Ahmad Bradshaw‘s reliever for the next few weeks with a chance to start when Bradshaw eventually injures himself enough to miss time. But knowing how the Giants’ coaches feel about Wilson, they may bring in veteran depth if that happened.

And Jalen Parmele‘s time in the sun has passed. His groin injury sent him to IR this week and left us with the utterly disappointing Rashad Jennings. Claim ’em if you gotta.

Outside of these shifts in the running back pecking order, there’s a whole collection of young wide receivers to stash if you need some receiver depth for the playoffs. Tops among them are Ryan Broyles and Chris Givens. I tend to like Broyles more because he’s shown playmaking ability all over the field and should remain a starter next to Megatron for the rest of the year. But Givens has a beauty of a schedule. Both could be WR3s or decent WR2s the rest of the way.

After Broyles and Givens, there’s Mohamed Sanu, the slow but sure-handed compliment to A.J. Green these past few weeks. He’s quietly making his living in the end zone and doing it well. Standard-scoring leagues take note, and PPR leagues should stash him for depth as he could continue his hot streak in the playoffs. He has WR2 upside when he’s scoring every week.

The options are a little more risky after that. T.Y. Hilton was explosive on Sunday, but he’s hard to trust while still splitting time with Donnie Avery.

Jarius Wright will fill in while Percy Harvin remains sidelined, but Kyle Rudolph seems to benefit more than Wright from Harvin’s absence.

If you can’t get your hands on any of these players, dig back in ourwaiverwirearchives. Good luck making it into your fantasy football playoffs.

Shonn Greene. SHONN “Couldn’t get 5 yards if you spotted him 10” GREENE.

When it comes to fantasy football, Shonn Greene is a ruiner. When you hand him the ball, he ruins any chance for a first down. But when you hand him the ball against the Colts, he ruins my week.

Greene did, of course, go off the one week I played his owner. And I didn’t even say anything bad about him this season. UNTIL NOW. He might not produce 30 or more points in his next seven games combined.

But enough grumbling. A few injuries have given us some decent pickups this week, and boy, do we ever need them with all the bye weeks in Week 7.

Where appropriate, I’ve added FAAB approximations beside each player for those of you dealing with a free agent acquisition budget.

Week 7 Pickups

Felix Jones, RB, Cowboys (25%)
DeMarco Murray will miss Week 7 and maybe longer (I think longer), which locks Jones in as a RB2 against the Panthers this week and makes him the No. 1 waiver claim.

Alex Green, RB, Packers (15-20%)
Green was surprisingly used as a workhorse against the Texans. Even though he didn’t do much with all his touches, he should continue to see the full workload, and that’ll make him a flex play at the very least most weeks if the Packers offense keeps rolling.

Montario Hardesty, RB, Browns (10-15%)
It doesn’t sound like Trent Richardson will miss any time, but if he did, Hardesty would feast on the Browns matchup against the Colts. You saw what it did for Shonn Greene.

William Powell, RB, Cardinals (10%)
LaRod Stephens-Howling started but let Powell do all the heavy lifting in Week 6. It looks like Powell’s the guy until Beanie Wells returns, but that Arizona offensive line isn’t doing him any favors.

Vick Ballard, RB, Colts (10%)
We’ll have to see what he can do when it’s not a blowout, but Ballard should remain the lead back in Indy until Brown returns. He may have better luck against the Browns this week.

Daryl Richardson, RB, Rams (10%)
A good chunk of his yardage in Week 6 came on one explosive play, but that’s exactly why the Rams are forcing Steven Jackson to share the load with Richardson. He should be owned by all SJax owners and warrants flex play consideration in the right matchup.

David Wilson, RB, Giants (10%)
Bradshaw’s not giving up many carries these days, but when he does, Wilson’s the guy. He should become a larger part of this offense as the year drags on if the Giants plan to keep Bradshaw healthy (or fail to keep him healthy).

Donnie Avery, WR, Colts (10%)
Lots of passes coming his way. Even if he hasn’t been able to do much with them every week, Avery should be owned.

Josh Gordon, WR, Browns (10%)
Gordon’s a little more high-upside than Avery since he’s proven he only needs a few targets to make a huge fantasy impact. We know the Browns will be down in games, and even if they’re not, it seems that Brandon Weeden likes going deep to Gordon. He makes for a high risk, high reward WR3 this week against the Colts.

Watch or Stash List

Stephen Hill, WR, Jets
A starter before his injury, Hill’s got a chance to become the Jets’ No. 1 target the rest of the way and caught a score in Week 6.

Mike Goodson, RB, Raiders
Even with limited touches, Goodson is making things happen. Darren McFadden owners might make sure they lock him up before someone else does.

Brandon Gibson and Chris Givens, WR, Rams
Both receivers are getting targets, but it’s just hard for me to trust any Rams’ receiver not named Amendola.

Phillip Tanner, RB, Cowboys
Tanner will see some touches while DeMarco Murray recovers, and Felix Jones isn’t the most durable back. Tanner could be the No. 1 add on the waiver wire next week if Jones were to get injured. I’m not so sure Murray will be back in Week 8 as he claims.

Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks
I know, I know. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but shorty had a pretty nice game against the Patriots. The Seahawks just might be adapting their playbook to turn Wilson into a more reliable fantasy weapon.

Unfortunately for us all, there isn’t too much on the wire unless you’re in a very shallow league. Leshoure is probably owned. Brown probably got snatched before his start Thursday night. That leaves slim pickings if you’re in need of a running back because the injuries don’t seem too severe to the starters who went down Week 3.

As always, my pickups are listed in the order I would go after them and with FAAB estimations.

Week 4 Pickups

Mikel Leshoure, RB, Lions (75%+)
If you waited this long, sorry. I talked about him before he hit the field. You’re going to have to luck out to land Leshoure, who looks to be the Lions’ preferred rusher. At least until Jahvid Best returns.

Andre Brown, RB, Giants (25%)
You probably missed your chance at him by now, but Brown could continue to see action even when Bradshaw returns from his injury.

Jerome Simpson, WR, Vikings (15% if need be)There’s a lot of hype around Simpson’s return from suspension this week with the Vikings offense moving the ball this year. I think you have to jump on him before he breaks out. He’s my top recommendation this week besides Leshoure.

Jake Locker, QB, Titans (10-15%)
This is the kind of potential we’ve been waiting to see. With Britt getting healthy (and MAYBE a running game showing up sometime soon), Locker should put together a nice season as a QB2 with QB1 upside.

Christian Ponder, QB, Vikings (10-15%)
To follow his new WR target, I’d offer up the Vikings QB, who looks good enough to enter QB1 territory these next few weeks. His schedule is excellent if you’re looking for bye week replacement help.

Kyle Rudolph, TE, Vikings (10%)
Rudolph caught two touchdowns this week, which probably serves as his coming out party, but Rudolph is worth owning in all leagues as we enter the byes. He’s a great target for Ponder near the redzone. And Simpson’s return should open up this offense, not take opportunities away.

Andrew Hawkins, WR, Bengals (5-10%)
The Hawk can play. I’m ready to grab him now, and you should, too. He’s shown he can produce with few targets. I expect inconsistency, but he’s solid enough to be rostered.

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Falcons (<10%)
Stash him now before anyone else sees him. I’m high on Rodgers, and as a result, high on the demise of Michael Turner. Turner can’t even drive fast.

Donnie Avery, WR, Colts (5-10%)
Without Austin Collie for the rest of the year, Avery now gets my confidence.

Heath Miller, TE, Steelers (<5%)
He looks to be a lot more involved in the offense this year than years past. He’s worth acquiring as the reigning No. 3 fantasy tight end.

Leonard Hankerson, WR, Redskins (<5%)
He’s secured a starting spot, even when Garcon returns. For now, he’s getting to run as the first read for Robert Griffin III. Just don’t do anything crazy like I did this weekend if you pick him up.

Ryan Williams, RB, Cardinals (15%)
I don’t love the Arizona running game, but Williams looks to be the best part of it.

Daniel Thomas, RB, Dolphins (10-15%)
Lamar Miller, RB, Dolphins (5-10%)
The more explosive and dependable of the two Dolphins running backs, I think Miller can emerge if given the opportunity. Daniel Thomas will probably get more action, but he may be owned in most leagues.

Tashard Choice, RB, Bills (10%)
Whoever starts in Buffalo is going to rack up yards. They just run the ball well up there. But there is no guarantee Choice even gets this one start in Week 4 if Fred Jackson can get in a full week of practice. Be careful how much you bid on him here.

Shaun Hill, QB, Lions (<10% if you own Stafford)
If you’re in a very deep league and want to make sure you get points for the Lions’ passing game, you might need Hill to play safe with Stafford’s injury. But it sounds as if Stafford could make the start Week 4 if the team lets him.

Stashes

I’m not yet ready to bite on Nate Burleson (maybe in PPR), Brandon Stokley, Jacoby Jones, or T.Y. Hilton, but they may be worthy stashes if you have the roster room. Cecil Shorts is hard to buy as long as he’s still in Jacksonville.

Brandon Myers and Jordan Cameron look like they can ball, but the tight end position is DEEP this season.

I’m not sure what to think of Ronnie Hillman or Lance Ball just yet if McGahee sits out Week 4, but I think I’d rather stash Ball if I’m a McGahee owner.

Don’t forget about Bilal Powell just yet, but I don’t think it’s an emergency that you get him on your roster. Especially not when he faces the 49ers this week.

Drops

Austin Collie (sadly), Stephen Hill, and Greg Little are all droppable if you have a more promising guy on the waiver wire. David Wilson is bordering on droppable territory, but we’ll have to see how he’s used once Ahmad Bradshaw returns to the field.